Who Was That Unmasked Man?

November 15, 1990|By William Rice.

Dean Fearing, that unmasked man in cowboy boots and a chef`s jacket who rode through town last week leaving silver whisks behind, rides the richest range in Texas.

He`s stove boss at a mighty pretty hacienda in Dallas called the Mansion on Turtle Creek, and he really shook up the boys and girls in the bunkhouse down there when he started crusting salmon with speckled bits of uncooked pasta and brought soy sauce, ginger and sticky rice from the East 40 across the ocean to the home of the mostly winless Cowboys.

There`s a new book called ``Dean Fearing`s Southwest Cuisine`` (Grove Weidenfeld, $29.95) that tells the tale with two subtitles, ``Blending Asia and the Americas`` and ``New Recipes from The Mansion on Turtle Creek.``

But to make things clear to the taste buds of Chicago`s tenderfeet, he undertook to cook two meals here at Charlie Trotter`s urban cafe. At both events, Southwest beef tartare, marinated in ancho paste and served on chipotle corncake, almost started a hoedown, and everyone agreed there never had been a dish served in these parts like spit-roast pheasant and pumpkin molasses puree with a sauce of apple, tequila and ancho chili.

Trotter`s sidekick, master sommelier Larry Stone, found some fine wines from locations as diverse as France, Oregon and California with which to wash down the grub. The only thing lacking was that chef Fearing, who plays as pretty as Gene Autry, didn`t pull out his guitar. Too bad because everyone was humming pretty good after all them good victuals and grape juice.